Midwich slurps Euro and Kiwi AV disties

Channel revolution that started in Diss, spreads across the planet

Midwich has confirmed to the London Stock Exchange a couple of acquisitions in the AV distributor market.

The Diss-based firm, itself a wholesaler of AV and document “solutions”, floated on AIM in early May with the proceeds going to selling shareholders, to pay down debts and to fund the buy of Kern & Stelly.

In today’s update, Midwich said it has forked out £7.9m for a 75 per cent stake in Holdan, a professional video and AV distie with tentacles in UK and Ireland, France, Germany and Australasia.

Holdan, which employs 35 staff, has traded with 515 mostly specialist broadcast customers, selling hardware and services including demos, system design config and repairs. It turned over £20.6m in 2015, and made a profit before tax of £1.1m.

The deal was funded via Midwich’s existing cash resources. It plans to buy the remaining 25 per cent of Holdan over the next three years.

The other buy is for a New Zealand-based outfit Wired, which specialises in HD distribution for both domestic and commercial sectors. The firm turned over NX$2m in the year to March.